Through A Glass Bottle
by aphaelion
Summary: A series of unconnected James/Lily drabbles.
1. Perfect

**Author's Notes:** So, lately I've been feeling very inspired with James and Lily, and I have all these ideas for oneshots that I'd like to try. I figured I'd just make a big compilation of them instead of posting them all separately. So, here you go :)

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"What about a picnic?"

James sits with his back resting against the first tree he could find, facing the Great Lake. He bites his lip in concentration, balancing his Transfiguration textbook on his head.

"No!" Lily suppresses a laugh, watching his textbook fall off his head and onto his lap. "That's been done before by a million other guys. You need to do something different with her if you want there to be a second date."

"This is impossible!" James huffs, giving Lily his biggest pout. "What's a bloke supposed to do when Hogsmede is too far away and picnics are overdone?"

"I don't know," Lily sighs. "What do you normally do when you take a girl out?"

"Hogsmede," he answers flatly. "But I can't do what I normally do when it comes to _this_ girl. She's special. Different."

Lily ignores pit in her stomach that's been there since the stupid conversation had started. How is it that she's _always_ the girl that people go to for romantic advice? _Actually,_ Lily thinks, _The real question should be, 'Why is it that she's so good at giving romantic advice to other people, but her_ own _romantic life is in shambles?'_

She hides her annoyance at the Head Boy with a smile. "What is it that makes her so special?"

James places the textbook that was previously balanced on his head onto his lap and considers the question. He's not sure that he can describe his feelings with things as mundane as _words_. He almost laughs at how pathetic he has become. Here he is, asking the girl he'd fancied for _years_ (and _has_ fancied for quite some time) for advice on how to ask out the girl he fancies (the very same girl).

Pathetic.

"Everything," he replies. "Help me, Lily. _Please._ I don't know what to do. What if she says no?"

"No to what?"

"Going out with me."

"Why in Merlin's name would she say 'no' to you?" Lily smiles. "You're _James Potter._ "

" _You_ said 'no' to me."

"Yeah, but it's not like you were seriously asking me out," Lily waves him off. "You only asked me because you knew that I'd say no, didn't you?"

He pauses, unsure of what to say. "I... What?"

"What?" Lily raises her eyebrows.

" _Merlin_ , Lily. I was _serious_. I really _did_ fancy you."

"Oh."

"Wait a minute," James sits up straight. "Does this mean that you would've said 'yes' if you knew that I was serious?"

"Erm... no," she admits sheepishly. "I wasn't particularly fond of you back then."

"But you are now?" He teases.

"Nope. Your mother is paying me to keep you company. I'm getting paid 20 galleons for every hour I'm around you."

"Psh. You enjoy every minute around me."

Lily snorts. "Yeah, sure."

"Oh!" He claps his hands together. "What about a study date?"

"Is the girl you fancy in Ravenclaw?"

"No."

"Then no," Lily shakes her head. "Definitely not. Why can't you just tell me who she is?"

" _Because_ ," James whines. "That ruins the surprise."

"It's not like you can keep it a secret forever."

"Humour me," he replies. "What would you want to do on a date?"

"Hm," Lily thinks for a moment. "I suppose I wouldn't really mind."

"Care to elaborate on that one?" He shoots her a look. "It's not exactly helpful."

"It means that I wouldn't really mind what I'm doing on a date, so long as I'm with someone I like."

"Okay. But if you _had_ to do something, what would you do? Say that the world is on fire and your Potions essay that you had just spent the last 20 hours of your life writing was about to become ashes unless you chose something to do on a date. What would it be?"

"Well, if the Potions essay that I had just spend 20 hours writing was about to be set on fire unless I chose something to do on a date, then I'd probably spout some rubbish like 'Lunch' just for the sole purpose of saving my essay," she laughs. "I don't do well under pressure."

"No, come on. Seriously."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

She considers his question. "Well, if I'm being perfectly honest, I'd just want to walk around somewhere. If I were back home, I'd want to spend the day trying to find the ice-cream parlour my dad would always take me to," she sighs. "I haven't been there in _forever_."

"Really?" He asks. "You'd honestly just want to walk around?"

"Yeah," she smiles. "James, it honestly doesn't matter what you do with this mystery girl. I'm sure she'll love spending time with you."

"You don't even _want_ anything from your date? Flowers? Chocolate? A card confessing his undying love for you?"

"Roses, maybe. They're pretty." The Head Girl replies. "Some blokes think it's smart to give me lilies, but I think I'm somewhat allergic to them." She wrinkles her nose. "I personally prefer roses."

"Okay," James says, taking mental notes of the all the things the pretty redhead had just said.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate whatever you do for her," Lily says, pushing herself up onto her feet, with James following suit. "You still haven't told me about her. I never thought you'd ever go to all this trouble for a girl."

"She's not just a girl, though," he insists. "She's perfect."

Lily ignores the jealousy rising inside of her, and laughs. "Perfect?"

"Perfect."


	2. Unexpected

;;

She's the kind of girl you never see coming. James would say that they started off with a simple friendship, but it was never simple.

And they were never _just_ friends.

"So, which one is she?"

Lily slips into the empty seat across from her fellow Head student. She takes a sip from the cup of sitting in front of her, but nearly spits it back out when the sweet, hot liquid hits her tongue. She _hates_ sweet coffee. "Which one is she?"

James narrows his eyes. "Who?"

"The girl who's ordered the most _un_ -coffee-like cup of coffee in the known universe," Lily scoffs.

"What's wrong with sweet coffee?" James takes a sip of his coffee, and despite the bitter substance in his mug he adds, "I like it."

"No, you don't," Lily scoffs. "The only time I've seen you have a _drop_ of that poison is when you had a sip of Sirius' after that chilli eating competition in last year."

He doesn't answer, but the look on his face gives away his lie.

"So, who is she?" Lily asks. "Who is the girl lucky enough to nab a date with the _legendary_ James Potter, fresh off Gyffindor's latest quidditch victory?"

"You're going to laugh if I tell you."

"I won't."

"You _will_."

"I _won't_."

"Abby Leman."

Lily pauses, unsure of how to react. " _No._ "

"She asked me," James shrugs, "and it's not like I had anyone else to go with, so I said 'yes'."

"I swear to Merlin that I'm the _only_ person in our year that hasn't gone out with her."

"Don't you worry your pretty little face," he smirks. "There's always next time."

"This pretty little face will not be going out with Abby for as long as she lives."

"Nah," James says. "She isn't as interesting as the person we all know you want to go out with."

"Oh?" Lily raises her eyebrows. "And who might that be?"

"Me."

"Come off it, James."

He laughs. "Can't blame a bloke for trying."

She raises her eyebrows at him, trying to tell if he's serious or not. "So where is your lovely date, anyway?"

"She's off getting more un-coffee-like coffee."

"She hasn't even finished this one!" Lily gestures to the half-filled cup in front of her. "And anyway, shouldn't it be _you_ getting the drinks?"

"I tried, but she didn't let me!"

"You didn't try hard enough. "

"I tried plenty hard, believe me," he laughs. "She said, and I quote, 'Chivalry is for weak girls who don't know how to take care of themselves.'"

"What's the bet that she won't bring back some of her shitty coffee?" Lily laughs, eyeing the crowd of people surrounding the bar."

"A date with me."

He says it boldly and without hesitation. "A date with me says she won't bring back any substance even _remotely_ resembling coffee."

"Okay."

"Ah, it was worth a tr—" He pauses, unable to comprehend what he just heard. "What?"

"A date with you says she won't bring back coffee." Lily simply states. "Though, the chances of that are pretty slim."

The Head Boy raises his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

Lily shrugs. "I'll go ask lover-girl right now."

James watches Lily leave the table and make her way to his date. He can't hear anything over the loud buzz of Hogwarts students, but can see Lily say something to Abby, and he can see that Abby says something back. He watches then converse for a few moments before Lily makes her way back to where he's sitting.

"She's ordering tea."

James' eyebrows shoot upwards. " _What?"_

"Yeah," Lily sighs.

"So now what?"

"A bet's a bet," Lily states. "And I never back out of a bet."

"Are you sure?" James raises his eyebrow. "You aren't planning to kill me anytime soon just so you won't need to go out with me?"

She snorts. "Give yourself at least _some_ credit, Potter."

"But are you _sure_?"

"Of course," Lily says.

"You're being awfully calm about this."

"Mmhmm."

James is about to change the topic, but the upwards tilt of the corners of Lily's lips and the slight hint of pink on her cheeks makes him ask another question. "Why do you look so smug?"

"Oh, nothing," Lily asks. "I'm just thinking about all the death threats I'm going to receive once the girls in our year hear about the fact that I have a date with you."

He furrows his brow. "You didnt..."

"Didn't what?"

"You _knew_ it would turn out this way, didn't you?"

"That's crazy, James. You were the one who suggested the bet in the first place."

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?" She laughs. "If I wanted to go out with you, I could've just asked."

"Yeah, but you're not the girl to ask a guy out. You'd need to be tricky about it."

"Tricky?"

"Yeah," he nods. "For appearance's sake."

"Hm," Lily shrugs. She's about to say something when she spots a familiar-looking blonde girl walking up to their table. "We'll finish this later."

James watches Lily walk out the door of the pub, then turns back to Abby with a smile.

"Hey," she says. "I got us some tea instead of coffee. I know how much you hate coffee."

James frowns in confusion. "Where did you hear that?"

"Oh, Lily told me a few moments ago," she admits sheepishly. "Sorry for making you drink that stuff before."

"Oh, no worries," James smiles, sipping his tea. "It's fine."

A little unexpected, but fine.


End file.
